Born into a musical family in Sydney, Natalie Maschmeyer showed early promise. Her first composition teacher, while she was a young teenager, was Miloslav Penicka. Other influences on her musical aesthetic were mentors Paolo Totaro and Romola Costantino. Graduating with a B.Mus (Syd), Dip.Ed. and LTCL, she spent some years teaching music in various guises until relocating to Europe with her husband and young family, living in the UK and The Netherlands. They returned to Sydney in late 2003 where she ran a piano studio and coached HSC music students from home. With family duties now receding, and after a hiatus of many years, Natalie has again turned her attention to composition, under the expert eye and ear of Antony Pitts.